The Earth King or Earth Queen is the ruler of the Earth Kingdom. They are traditionally based in the capital city of Ba Sing Se, where the royal palace constitutes its own district within the Upper Ring of the city, and functions as both the monarch’s residence and seat of government.[1] As of 174 AG, with the coronation of Wu of the Hou-Ting Dynasty, there have been fifty-four monarchs of the Earth Kingdom. However, after KuviraattackedRepublic City, hoping to subsume it into her self-proclaimed “Earth Empire”, King Wu decided to abdicate the throne and abolish the monarchy altogether, in favor of independent states with elected governments. This was akin to the political system of the United Republic of Nations, and a motion for which Wu received the support of AvatarKorra.[2]

Traditionally, the earth monarch leaves behind all personal possessions upon ascending the throne, including their given name, and is henceforth known only as "Your Majesty" or by their reign number, enhancing their status as detached and sacrosanct individuals.[3] However, this was not a universal standard, since the Earth Kings Kuei and Wu preferred their given names over their title, allowing even commoners to address them by it.[4][5] The earth monarchs are also worshiped as gods by some Earth Kingdom citizens, even though their political role has historically alternated between a largely symbolic figurehead and that of an actual imperial ruler.[1][3]

The relation between the monarch and the general population has likewise varied over time: Some rulers like Earth King Kuei had a populist style of rule,[4] while others like his daughter Hou-Ting insisted on their sacrosanct status, caring only about their own power and not their subjects.[6] Such authoritarian styles of rule resulted in rebellion and anarchy at least twice in the Earth Kingdom's history.[7][8]

Contents

History

Early Earth Kings controlled their lands personally, sometimes even brutally. This began to change under the rule of the 46th Earth King. He tried to change the Earth Kingdom into a centralist empire. To achieve this goal, he used violence and oppression, causing a civil war and a peasant uprising in the process.[8][9] Due to these events and the intervention of Avatar Kyoshi, the Earth Kingdom was transformed into a constitutional monarchy to prevent future monarchs from abusing their power. This caused a dramatic change in the politics of the Earth Kingdom, and over time bureaucrats and local rulers used the new constitution to gather more and more power. In the process, the monarchy became stagnant and corrupt, as kings ceded or were forced to cede more and more control over the day-to-day operations to the governments and bureaucracy that sprang up around them. They traditionally made use of sixty-seven different seals, depending on the document in question.[3]

Due to Earth King Kuei's premature ascendancy to the throne at the age of four,[3] the position finally declined to that of a figurehead, allowing Grand SecretariatLong Feng, Kuei's regent and later adviser, to take control of the capital Ba Sing Se.[1] The traditional rule of the Earth Kings eventually ended when the Fire NationPrincessAzula usurped the throne in a violent coup. The rightful Earth King Kuei was forced into exile. When the Fire Nation took control over the city by Azula's order, the usurper left a Joo Dee as a puppet ruler with the title of "Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator of Ba Sing Se".[10]

After the end of the century long war, Earth King Kuei was restored on his rightful place as the leader of the Earth Kingdom. As such, he played a very important role in the execution of the Harmony Restoration Movement in order to remove the Fire Nation presence in the Earth Kingdom by transferring the Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation. Kuei also reformed the Earth Kingdom government back to its original form so the monarch had full power over the government.[11]

With the unrest in the Earth Kingdom nearly entirely settled down, Wu was crowned as the fifty-fourth king of all the earth lands.

Eventually, Kuei's daughter, Hou-Ting, succeeded her father as ruler of the Earth Kingdom and allowed the Dai Li back into the capital as a force working for her. During her reign, she spent large amounts of money on personal interests, making her somewhat unpopular with her people.[6] However, Hou-Ting was killed by Zaheer in 171 AG[7] and the throne remained vacant for three years. Prince Wu, Hou-Ting's great-nephew, was the next in line to succeed her, though due to the instability in the kingdom, he was forced to flee the nation and seek refuge in Republic City.[12] He lived in the United Republic of Nations' capital for three years before being crowned the new Earth King in 174 AG. However, during his coronation, Kuvira denounced his authority and usurped power for herself, renaming the Earth Kingdom the "Earth Empire".[13]

Wu became the target of kidnappings, but he managed to stay out of harm's way and grew into his role as a leader of the people. He slowly gained the trust and faith of the people by taking the lead on the evacuation of Republic City when Kuvira attacked, helping to keep the refugees safe. After Kuvira was defeated, however, Wu made plans to step down as king and abolish the monarchy in favor of independent states with elected governments, akin to the political system of the United Republic of Nations, a motion for which he received the support of Avatar Korra.[2]

Trivia

The Earth monarchs often wear clothing in bright shades of yellow. In Imperial China - one of the major inspirations for the Earth Kingdom - yellow was a color reserved solely for the Emperor and was often associated with the element of Earth.

The earth monarchs are the only leaders of one of the four nations to have never demonstrated any bending ability.

On the wanted posters of Team Avatar issued by Hou-Ting, the "Earth Queen" title is written in Chinese as 土國皇后, which literally means "The Empress of the Earth Kingdom".[16]

No Earth King had been to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se until Kuei ventured there with Team Avatar.[17]

Notes

↑Avatar Extras for "The Crossroads of Destiny" on Nicktoons Network refers to Azula as "Earth Queen Azula", meaning that she reigned in the nation as ruler beginning from Long Feng's second incarceration and likely until she left Ba Sing Se. However, Azula was never officially crowned, and thus she can only be considered as usurper.